NBA Era Comparisons

I thought this was an interesting article:

http://hoopsanalyst.com/eras.htm

Here are the league-wide per game numbers for the last 20 years, including stats so far this year:

<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font size=""2"">Year FGFGAFG% 3P 3PA3% eFG%FT FTAFT% PTSPoss Eff<br/> 07 36.379.50.4565.816.60.348 0.493 20.026.60.75398.4 92.5106.3<br/> 06 35.879.00.4545.716.00.359 0.490 19.626.30.74597.0 91.4106.1<br/> 05 36.080.30.4475.615.80.355 0.482 19.726.10.75697.2 91.6106.1<br/> 04 35.079.80.4395.214.90.347 0.471 18.224.20.75293.4 90.8102.9<br/> 03 35.780.80.4425.114.70.351 0.474 18.524.40.75795.1 91.8103.6<br/> 02 36.281.30.4455.214.70.354 0.477 17.923.80.75395.5 91.4104.5<br/> 01 35.780.60.4434.813.70.353 0.473 18.624.90.74794.8 91.3103.8<br/> 00 36.882.10.4494.813.70.353 0.478 19.025.30.75197.5 93.7104.1<br/> 99 34.278.20.4374.513.20.339 0.466 18.825.80.72891.6 89.6102.2<br/> 98 35.979.70.4514.412.70.345 0.478 19.426.30.73795.6 91.0105.1<br/> 97 36.179.30.4556.016.80.361 0.493 18.725.30.73896.9 90.8106.7<br/> 96 37.080.20.4625.916.00.367 0.499 19.526.40.74199.5 92.5107.6<br/> 95 38.081.50.4665.515.30.363 0.500 19.927.10.736 101.4 93.6108.3<br/> 94 39.384.40.4663.3 9.90.333 0.485 19.626.60.734 101.5 95.5106.3<br/> 93 40.786.00.4733.0 9.00.337 0.491 20.927.70.755 105.3 97.4108.1<br/> 92 41.387.40.4722.5 7.60.331 0.487 20.226.70.759 105.3 97.3108.2<br/> 91 41.487.20.4742.3 7.10.319 0.487 21.327.90.765 106.3 98.5107.9<br/> 90 41.587.10.4762.2 6.60.331 0.489 21.828.50.764 107.0 99.1108.0<br/> 89 42.589.00.4772.1 6.50.322 0.489 22.128.80.768 109.2101.3107.8<br/> 88 42.187.70.4811.6 5.00.317 0.489 22.329.10.766 108.2100.1108.1<br/> 87 42.688.80.4811.4 4.70.302 0.488 23.230.50.763 109.9101.5108.3<br/> 86 43.288.60.4870.9 3.30.281 0.493 22.930.30.756 110.2102.8107.2</font><br/></div>

eFG%: effective field goal% (takes into account made three pointers)
Poss: offensive possessions per game
Eff: stands for offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions)

I also calculated some other metrics which I thought were interesting:

<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> Year AST%STL%BLK% TO%FTA%3PA%<br/>2006-07 57.4% 7.8%6.1%16.2% 11.8% 20.9%<br/>2005-06 57.5% 7.8%5.9%15.8% 11.8% 20.2%<br/>2004-05 59.2% 8.2%6.1%15.8% 11.5% 19.6%<br/>2003-04 60.8% 8.7%6.3%16.5% 10.8% 18.7%<br/>2002-03 60.2% 8.6%6.2%16.2% 10.8% 18.2%<br/>2001-02 60.6% 8.5%6.4%15.8% 10.5% 18.1%<br/>2000-01 61.0% 8.6%6.5%15.8% 11.0% 17.0%<br/>1999-00 60.7% 8.5%6.3%16.5% 11.0% 16.7%<br/>1998-99 60.6% 9.3%6.3%17.1% 11.7% 16.8%<br/>1997-98 61.3% 9.2%6.4%17.0% 11.7% 15.9%<br/>1996-97 61.1% 9.0%6.2%17.3% 11.3% 21.2%<br/>1995-96 61.2% 8.6%6.3%17.1% 11.6% 20.0%<br/>1994-95 61.5% 8.8%6.3%17.0% 11.7% 18.8%<br/>1993-94 62.0% 9.3%6.2%16.8% 11.2% 11.7%<br/>1992-93 60.7% 8.8%6.1%16.3% 11.4% 10.4%<br/>1991-92 59.3% 8.9%6.3%16.0% 10.9%8.7% <br/>1990-91 59.8% 8.7%6.0%16.3% 11.3%8.2% <br/>1989-90 59.9% 8.6%5.8%16.2% 11.6%7.6% <br/>1988-89 60.2% 9.0%6.0%17.0% 11.5%7.4% <br/>1987-88 61.2% 8.5%6.1%16.7% 11.7%5.7% <br/>1986-87 60.9% 8.5%6.2%16.7% 12.1%5.3% <br/>1985-86 60.2% 8.6%5.9%17.4% 12.0%3.8% <br/></div>

Ast%: percentage of made field goals that were assisted
Stl%: percentage of possessions that ended with a steal
Blk%: percentage of field goal attempts that were blocked
TO%: percentage of possessions that ended in a turnover
FTA%: (roughly) percentage of shot attempts that resulted in a trip to the free throw line
3PA%: percentage of field goal attempts that were 3-pointers

You can see how the use of the three-point shot has evolved over the last 2 decades. Note the three years between 04/05 and 06/07 where the NBA used a shorter three point line. 3-point attempts ballooned and offensive efficiency recieved a boost. 3-point attempts have steadily increased since the NBA went back to the original 3-point line.

Ast% has steadily declined, which indicates that the NBA is increasingly relying on one-on-one play. Since the 98-99 season, steal% and turnover% in general have declined. Not sure what brought that about.

 

The block shot and field goal percentage sort of explaining that NBA era today are more athletic but is a dickhead.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You can see how the use of the three-point shot has evolved over the last 2 decades. Note the three years between 04/05 and 06/07 where the NBA used a shorter three point line. 3-point attempts ballooned and offensive efficiency recieved a boost. 3-point attempts have steadily increased since the NBA went back to the original 3-point line.
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This comes as total news to me. How much shorter was the short three point line? As the FIBA one?


Otherwise, very interesting stuff